


Soft Things

by whitchry9



Series: Melvin Potter [1]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Autism, Autism Spectrum, Blind Character, Blindness, Canon Autistic Character, Canon Compliant, Canon Disabled Character, Cats, Disabled Character, Feelings, Friendship, Gen, Identity Reveal, Melvin is autistic fight me I dare you, Melvin knows more than he lets on, sensory processing disorders, treat yoself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-06-06 23:15:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6774208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitchry9/pseuds/whitchry9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Melvin knows a lot of things about Mr Daredevil. He knows that he's blind and that they're kind of similar.<br/>He thinks that maybe they could be friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Soft Things

**Author's Note:**

> A fill for a number of prompts!  
> http://daredevilkink.dreamwidth.org/7552.html?thread=15336320#cmt15336320  
> http://daredevilkink.dreamwidth.org/7552.html?thread=14221952#cmt14221952  
> http://daredevilkink.dreamwidth.org/7552.html?thread=14841984#cmt14841984  
> http://daredevilkink.dreamwidth.org/7552.html?thread=14700416#cmt14700416

Melvin knew that Mr Daredevil couldn't see. That's why he didn't bother to make the eyeholes out of something that he could see through, instead making them out of shatterproof carbon composite to keep him safe. Mr Daredevil didn't tell him that he couldn't see, but Melvin knew how he never looked at him, even though eye contact was important. It wasn't that he didn't try, because Mr Daredevil did look in his direction, but just never at him.

Melvin understood that.

But there were other things too. How his first costume was black fabric tied over his head, and when Melvin tried that out at home after meeting Mr Daredevil, he couldn't see anything. It helped when he was designing though.

He watched the news too, even though it always made him sad, but he figured that sometimes a person had to be sad. When people got videos of Daredevil, he always knew when someone was coming behind him without looking. He never had to look. Sometimes he pretended to, but Melvin could tell it wasn't _real_ looking. He'd had a lifetime of practicing that.

And when Melvin gave him the costume, Mr Daredevil didn't look at it at all, didn't even tilt his head down to make it look like he was looking at it, he just reached out and felt it.

Melvin had made sure the inside was comfortable to wear, because he knew what it was like to have clothes that were impossible to wear. And clothes were important.

So he figured that Mr Daredevil would appreciate that.

 

 

And the costume must have worked, because Mr Daredevil put Fisk away in prison, and he and Betsy were safe, just like he'd promised. Melvin didn't have to make anymore suits for bad people. Just for Mr Daredevil. And Mr Daredevil was a good person.

 

And Mr Daredevil didn't say anything about not being able to see out the eyeholes of the helmet, which meant Melvin was right, that he couldn't see, and that was amazing to him. Mr Daredevil was blind and he was a superhero. (Mr Daredevil always said he wasn't a superhero, but Melvin knew he was being modest. He did that a lot.)

He wished he could tell Betsy, but he promised Mr Daredevil he wouldn't tell anyone about how he made him costumes. So he kept it a secret.

 

Months later when Mr Daredevil came back, this time in a hoodie instead of his costume, he handed Melvin a broken mask. A mask that had been _shot._

 

“How far away was this guy when he hit you?” Melvin asked Mr Daredevil, who was hovering at the other end of his garage, his hood pulled over his face.

“Four or five feet. Why?”

Melvin frowned. “He could've killed you. And one inch in either direction, your face would be spaghetti. I mean, look at that shot placement.”

He wondered if it was rude to tell Mr Daredevil to look at something when he couldn't see, but if he was pretending not to know that, it should be okay.

“I got lucky.”

Melvin wasn't so sure. “Yeah, maybe. Or maybe it was a warning shot.”

Who would try to kill Mr Daredevil? Was there a new bad person out there?

“Can you fix it or not?”

Melvin looked over at Mr Daredevil, almost completely in the darkness so Melvin couldn't see his face underneath the hood.

“I promised Betsy I wouldn't do anything illegal anymore.” He wasn't sure if this counted, because even though Mr Daredevil was a superhero, the police didn't like him.

“I'm not a criminal Melvin,” Mr Daredevil reminded him.

“You don't have a badge either.”

Melvin frowned. Mr Daredevil was still talking.

“...how much longer before innocent people start getting caught in the crossfire?”

Melvin panicked. What if he was talking about now? What if Betsy wasn't safe?

He picked up one of his blades.

“Yeah? You sure he didn't follow you here?”

Mr Daredevil held his hands up. “I would never allow that to happen.”

Melvin was frustrated. “Okay, it's just you'd never allow yourself to be shot in the head before.”

In fact, Mr Daredevil hadn't been getting hurt much at all since Melvin made him armour, which he was proud of.

“I gave you my word Melvin. When I promised to protect you and Betsy, remember?”

Melvin would never forget. “I remember,” he nodded. He set the blade back on his workbench.

“It's just I can't just fix this.”

“Why not?”

“You gotta understand, it's not just the cracked part that's broken. The crack makes the whole thing fragile like a bird egg.” He wished that he could show Mr Daredevil what he meant, trace out the stress lines that had gone radiating out from where the bullet hit him.

 

“I gotta make you a new one.”

“Okay, well, how long is that gonna take?”

Mr Daredevil was anxious, Melvin could tell.

Melvin sighed. “I don't know, a couple of days maybe. If I don't sleep,” he added.

“What can you do for me tonight?”

Melvin waved a hand. “I don't know. Reinforce the cracks. Replace some of the padding.”

“Yeah, good, do it.”

“Okay, but it won't keep you safe. I thought that's what you wanted me to do.” Didn't Mr Daredevil understand that? It was Melvin's job to make armour to keep Mr Daredevil safe, and it was Mr Daredevil's job to keep him and Betsy safe. If the armour wasn't safe how could he and Betsy be safe? “We keep each other safe, don't we? Isn't that our deal?”

Mr Daredevil sat down. “Yeah, just do your best, Melvin. Okay?” He sounded tired.

Melvin looked back at the mask and picked up a blowtorch. “Are you sure you're ready to go out again?” After all, he had been shot in the head recently, from only a few feet away. And Melvin's armour had kept Mr Daredevil from getting killed, but it must have hurt a lot.

Mr Daredevil laughed a bit. “Do I look ready?” he asked.

Melvin knew that was one of the questions that people didn't want an answer too. Probably because Mr Daredevil already knew the answer.

Melvin turned his attention back to the helmet that Mr Daredevil was waiting for.

 

 

He finished fixing it while Mr Daredevil went out, and by the time he came back, it was done.

“It won't keep you safe,” Melvin warned him again when handing it to him. “Don't get shot in the head again.”

Mr Daredevil was close enough that Melvin could see him smile a bit. “Thanks Melvin. You get the new one done when you can. Be sure to take care of yourself, okay?”

Melvin wasn't sure what that meant, but Mr Daredevil was gone before he could ask.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Mr Daredevil came back a few days later, and didn't make any noise when he got there, but Melvin knew anyway.

“You're early,” he said. “You know I don't like being rushed.” Being rushed made him anxious which made it hard to work which only made him more anxious and it was a terrible snowball of not getting anything done.

“I need the suit Melvin.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

“You know, you getting popped in the noggin gave me a chance to try some new stuff and I'm pretty excited about it.” He pulled the box out and set it on one of his work benches. Mr Daredevil was still standing behind him. “Fortified, carbon tube helmet. I mean, it's pretty damn close to indestructible.”

“How close?” he asked.

Melvin smiled. “I'll leave the testing to you. I threw in some reinforced alloy gloves. You know, what the hell. Gotta be careful.” He wanted Mr Daredevil to be as safe as possible. “Some new people spilling a lot of blood out there.” He'd been watching the news and it had been making him sadder than usual.

He moved the box to the workbench next to Mr Daredevil. Mr Daredevil removed one of his gloves and stuck his hand in to feel it.

“You look better,” Melvin said, because small talk was important and it was true.

“Yeah, I feel better.”

 

Mr Daredevil told him to be safe, and Melvin showed him the armour he was wearing underneath his shirt. “Gotta stay strong for Betsy,” he said proudly. Mr Daredevil smiled, even though Melvin was pretty sure he couldn't tell what it was without touching it. That was okay though.

 

Mr Daredevil didn't come see him for a while after that. The night after he got his new costume, the man they called the Punisher was arrested. Melvin was happy that he helped.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Near Christmas, Mr Daredevil came back again, this time with a friend. A woman.

Mr Daredevil wanted her to be safe too.

 

Melvin measured her, but he didn't like it. “I made all this stuff to keep Betsy safe, not just give away.” Not that he'd told Betsy about it yet. It was supposed to be for Christmas. It was a surprise.

“You'll get it back Melvin.”

“Without a scratch,” the woman added. “Promise.”

Melvin didn't believe her. “If you say so.”

She was about the same size as Betsy. The armour would fit her.

Melvin also gave Mr Daredevil the surprise he'd been working on for him for Christmas, the billy clubs. He was really excited about them. He demonstrated their different uses for Mr Daredevil and watched as he tried it out, smiling.

“Melvin… I don't know what to say.”

Melvin understood that. “Don't say anything.”

Mr Daredevil smiled, and twirled it in his hand a few times, and Melvin watched before going to get the armour for his friend.

 

 

* * *

 

 

It was Christmas Eve Eve before Mr Daredevil came back. He brought a box with him, but no friend. He was wearing his hoodie again, not the costume.

“I'm… I'm sorry Melvin. It did get scratched. More than a scratch really.”

Melvin pulled the armour out of the box. Mr Daredevil had tried to clean it, but some of the blood still stuck near the tear in the material. It was right in the middle. It would have gotten Mr Daredevil's friend right in the stomach.

Melvin looked up at Mr Daredevil.

“I know that we promised I'd get it back to you without a scratch, but-” Mr Daredevil's voice broke and he stopped talking.

Melvin sat the armour down on his bench. Did his friend die? Is that what he was trying to say? Melvin didn't know if a wound there would kill someone. It probably depended on how big the knife was and how deep it went and if there was a hospital or doctors.

But that wasn't important, because Mr Daredevil was sniffling in front of him and Melvin didn't know what to do. He knew what to do with Betsy when she was sad, because they'd practiced it and he'd done it before. He'd never tried to help Mr Daredevil like this. Melvin was only supposed to keep him safe.

Melvin hesitated before wrapping his arms around Mr Daredevil, who stiffened slightly.

“I'm sorry about your friend,” he said. “I'm sorry I couldn't keep her safe.”

Mr Daredevil relaxed into the hug a bit. “It's not your fault Melvin. You did a great job.”

Melvin let go of Mr Daredevil, who looked a little bit sad still, but the sniffling noises had stopped.

“It's okay that it's ripped,” Melvin assured him. “I can make Betsy another one. A better one.”

Maybe that wasn't the right thing to say.

“Thank you for letting me borrow it though. And for the billy club. It was really helpful.”

Mr Daredevil was inching away from him, towards the exit.

Melvin didn't know what to say. He knew that when someone thanked you, you were supposed to say 'you're welcome', but that didn't really seem to fit.

Instead he nodded.

“Merry Christmas Melvin,” Mr Daredevil told him.

Melvin nodded again. “Merry Christmas.”

Mr Daredevil slipped out before he could say anything else.

 

He lifted up what was supposed to be Betsy's Christmas present. The fabric should have deflected a knife, but not if it was extremely sharp, which the one must have been that hurt Mr Daredevil's friend.

He wondered if she was like Betsy to him.

The idea made him very sad, so Melvin set the armour back down in the box. He decided he would let Mr Daredevil keep it, if he wanted to. In case he wanted to remember her. After all, Melvin couldn't give it to Betsy, and he had no use for it. Mr Daredevil could get the most use out of it, and it might make him happier.

Melvin set it aside and began work on another set of armour for Betsy, even though he knew it wouldn't be done for Christmas.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Mr Daredevil came back in the new year with some questions about changing the tension in the billy club. Melvin tinkered with it for a while, making some adjustments that Mr Daredevil seemed happy with when he tried it.

“I have something for you,” Melvin told him before he could sneak out. He was very good at that.

Melvin wasn't sure, but he thought Mr Daredevil was making a surprised face. It was hard to tell with the mask on.

He pulled out the box that he had left the ruined armour in and pushed it towards Mr Daredevil.

He pulled off one glove and stuck his hand inside.

“Melvin-” he began.

“I thought you might want to keep it,” he blurted out.

Mr Daredevil didn't say anything.

“I'm sorry if it's a bad idea, but I started thinking about how I would feel if it was Betsy, and I thought that you might like to keep it to remember her by.”

Mr Daredevil pulled the armour from the box and cradled it gently in his arms.

“Thank you Melvin,” he said, his voice breaking.

Melvin nodded.

He held it for a moment longer, brushing the material with his hand before setting it back in the box.

 

“Do you like how the material feels?” Melvin asked. “Because if you like that better, I can see what I can do to change it. I know that how it feels is important.”

Mr Daredevil tilted his head up. “What do you mean?”

“You always pet things. First I thought it was because you couldn't see, but it's more than that, isn't it?”

Mr Daredevil gaped at him. “How did you-”

“I'm sorry!” Melvin blurted out. “I'm sorry because it was a secret and I wasn't supposed to say it but then I asked about fabric and I forgot, I'm sorry, I'm the worst.” He wanted to hit himself for being so dumb, but he'd worked so hard on not doing that, on expressing his feelings in other ways. Betsy had been so proud of him for that.

Instead he just clenched his fists and unclenched them. His nails dug into his palms, and he knew that wasn't good, but it was better than hitting and he thought Betsy would be okay with it.

“No, it's okay Melvin. I just… I didn't think you knew.”

Melvin nodded. “I know lots of things people don't think I know. And I'm good at keeping secrets when it's important.”

Mr Daredevil nodded. “Thank you Melvin. For everything.”

“Do you like the fabric?” he asked.

“Of the suit? Yes, it's nice. Did you know that when making it?”

Melvin shrugged. “I always like making things that feel nice. And then it was even more important when I knew.”

Mr Daredevil didn't seem mad anymore. Melvin relaxed his hands.

“I did know you couldn't see,” he offered. “That's why the eyeholes are just for show.”

Mr Daredevil seemed surprised. “Are they?”

Melvin nodded. “They're black. I thought it would make you look tougher, and cause you don't have to see out of them, I could make you safer. Because that's our deal. We keep each other safe.”

Mr Daredevil smiled, even though he still looked sad. “Yeah, we don't, don't we?”

Melvin nodded. “Keep the costume,” he said, pushing it towards him. Mr Daredevil picked it up, bowing his head, and nodded once.

“Thank you,” he said softly.

Melvin smiled.

 

 

* * *

 

 

In February Mr Daredevil came back again. He didn't seem as sad this time, which Melvin thought was good.

He had one spot in the suit that wasn't very comfortable that he wanted Melvin to look at, under the left arm.

Melvin knew what he meant immediately after running his fingers over it. Some of the material had come undone from the stitching and was poking into the space where Mr Daredevil's arm went.

“I can fix this,” Melvin said. “It will take me a few minutes though.”

Mr Daredevil nodded, and followed Melvin to his sewing machine, which he seemed a bit surprised that Melvin had.

“You do the sewing yourself?” he asked.

Melvin nodded. “Yeah. I don't trust anyone else to do it right. And I like sewing. It's kind of nice.” He pinned the corner of material down and turned the machine on. “I make lots of things. Things other than armour too.”

The machine buzzed happily as Melvin pressed the pedal down and it zoomed across the material.

“What kind of things?” Mr Daredevil asked. Melvin wasn't sure if he was just being polite in asking.

“I made Betsy a purse for her birthday last year. I did that in one day.” Melvin was proud of that, since he'd never sewn a purse before. “And I made a weighted blanket. Betsy helped me find the pattern, cause it was a lot more expensive to buy one. And hell, that wasn't even the worst. It cost so much to ship it. So I made one. Took a lot longer than the purse, but it was worth it.”

“What's a weighted blanket?” Mr Daredevil asked.

Melvin was shocked Mr Daredevil didn't already know. “Oh. Well, it's like a normal blanket, but inside there are beads and stuff that make it heavy so it's like it's hugging you. It's nice when you want a hug but don't want to be touched by a person.”

“That sounds kind of nice.”

Melvin nodded. “It's great.” He snipped the ends of the thread off and ran his fingers over the material again. It was smooth, no bumps or prickles that would bother Mr Daredevil when he was working.

“Fixed it,” he told him.

Mr Daredevil ran his hands over the seam, and seemed pleased at what he felt.

 

“Do you want to come over and try it?” Melvin blurted out. “I was going to ask if you wanted to come over and see it, but you can't see, so I thought that would be rude.”

Mr Daredevil raised his eyebrows under his hoodie. “That's okay,” he reassured Melvin. “I don't mind.”

He hesitated. “And yes, I would like that.”

Melvin beamed.

 

He closed the shop up quickly, locking the door and covering the sewing machine so it wouldn't get dusty. Then he led Mr Daredevil upstairs to his apartment.

He knew that Mr Daredevil couldn't see, and that you were supposed to help people who couldn't see, but he also knew that Mr Daredevil could fight bad guys and jump off buildings to rescue people so maybe he didn't need help.

 

Melvin's blanket was sitting at the end of the bed. Even in the summer when it was hot, he made sure it was cool enough in his room so he could wear it. It was hard to fall asleep without it.

“It's on my bed,” Melvin told Mr Daredevil. “The one side is blue flannel and is very soft. The other side is cotton with a pattern, and it's not very soft, but it's okay because it doesn't have to touch me. The other side touches me and that side looks nice.”

Mr Daredevil reached a hand out and felt the blanket. “The flannel is soft,” he agreed.

“If you sit down you can try it,” Melvin told him.

 

Mr Daredevil slipped his shoes off and sat cross legged on Melvin's bed. He winced when he sat down, like something was hurting him. Melvin wondered if he was hurt.

He draped the blanket over Mr Daredevil's legs.

“The beads inside are cold at first,” he said. “They warm up with body heat. It's nice in the summer though, and in the winter there's another blanket between me and that one, so that helps.”

Mr Daredevil nodded. He looked... Melvin wasn't sure, because there wasn't an exact match for his expression, but he looked peaceful.

 

Eleanor was interested in the proceedings and rubbed up against Melvin's leg. Melvin picked her up and she started purring. Mr Daredevil tilted his head. “Who's this?” he asked.

“This is Eleanor,” Melvin said. “She's my cat. Betsy helped me get her. She's kind of fat and sometimes she sleeps in my bed on the pillow when I'm trying to sleep but she always lets me pet her when I'm upset and her fur is my favourite thing.”

Eleanor mrred in his arms. “Would you like to pet her?” he asked.

Mr Daredevil looked uncertain.

“She's very soft,” Melvin added. “And she only scratched me one time when I stepped on her tail. And the one time I tried to make her armour and she didn't like it. So two times. But that was it.”

Mr Daredevil smiled a little bit. “Okay,” he agreed.

Melvin moved closer so Mr Daredevil could reach without getting out from under the weighted blanket. He stroked Eleanor's ears and head, and then her back and sides, and then down her tail. He smiled.

Melvin smiled too. “She's soft, right?”

“Yeah, she is,” Mr Daredevil said, still smiling.

“And sometimes when I'm upset and the blanket isn't enough, she'll sit on my lap too. She's kind of fat, so it's nice.”

“Can I hold her?” he asked.

Melvin nodded and set Eleanor on Mr Daredevil's lap. She continued to purr. Mr Daredevil smiled. After a minute, he leaned forward and buried his face in her fur. Eleanor made a surprised sound, but she didn't seem to mind it. Melvin stroked her ears.

 

Mr Daredevil sat back up again. “My friend kept telling me to get a dog. Maybe I should have gotten a cat,” he said. After a moment of petting her, he continued. “Maybe I _should_ get a cat.”

Melvin nodded. “If you ever want to, I can take you to the shelter that helped me and Betsy. They let us pet all the cats before I had to make a decision.”

“Yeah,” Mr Daredevil said, nodding. “I'll keep that in mind. Thank you Melvin.”

He returned to petting Eleanor and Melvin stroked her head a few times. She kept purring.

 

“I think that maybe we're a lot alike,” Melvin told him. “We both like soft things and loud noises hurt us and sometimes I can't tell if people are happy or upset with me because their faces are hard to understand. Except for you it's because you can't see faces.”

Mr Daredevil tilted his head, but didn't say anything.

“And I think that I could help you find more things that you like, because that's what Betsy did for me, we made a whole list of them so when I'm upset I can do one of them instead of getting angry. Cause I don't think anyone did that for you, and maybe that's why you decided to be Daredevil.”

Eleanor kept purring as Mr Daredevil petted her.

“Maybe we could be friends.”

As soon as he said it, Melvin thought it was a mistake. Of course Mr Daredevil wouldn't want to be friends with him. Stupid, _stupid._ He clenched his fists again and his nails dug into his palms, centering him.

“Melvin-” he began.

“I'm sorry,” he blurted out. “I'm sorry Mr Daredevil, that was a stupid thing to say.”

“No, it's okay Melvin. It's fine.”

He was quiet for a minute, but Melvin didn't know what to say, and plus he thought Mr Daredevil was still going to say something else, but as time went on he got less and less sure and wondered if he was supposed to fill the silence with something or not.

 

In the end, it was Mr Daredevil who broke the silence. “Matt.”

Melvin was confused. “What?” he asked.

“My name is Matt. And yes, I'd like to be friends.”

“Can I hug you?” Melvin blurted. Matt looked confused, but nodded.

“Friends,” Melvin whispered, his arms wrapped around Matt. Eleanor squeezed out from in between them and hopped to the ground.

Melvin let go and Eleanor hopped back up, purring in between them. Matt stroked her head and looked happy.

“Now I have to show you all the things that make me happy. Like beads and sticking your hands in flour and soft fabric and yarn and rain and taking a bath with an icepack on your head and scented pillows and swinging.”

Matt looked surprised, but Melvin thought he looked happy too.

“I think... I think I'd like that,” he said.

Melvin beamed. “Come on then. We've got a lot of things to do.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> There will me more of this as Melvin and Matt explore the fun sensory things, but I liked where this ended for now, and can be considered complete.


End file.
